CHINA’S mortgages by individuals should account for less than 30 percent of total new loans in 2017 as housing curbs are expected to slow mortgage growth, China Securities Journal quoted a central bank official as saying Tuesday.

    That would be a “clear drop” from the high ratio last year, the newspaper quoted Zhou Xuedong, director of the business management department in the People’s Bank of China, as saying.

    In 2016, China’s 5.68 trillion yuan (US$820.9 billion) in new medium- and long-term household loans made up 44.9 percent of total new loans in the year, boosted by a furious property market boom, central bank data showed.

    Zhou’s estimates echoed central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan’s remarks last week, who said measures by local governments to cool rising house prices would slow mortgage growth to some degree, but housing loans would continue to grow at a relatively rapid pace.

    Central bank data last week showed medium- and long-term household loans accounted for 32.5 percent of new loans in February, marginally higher than January but the absolute figure dropped almost in half, adding to signs of cooling in the housing sector.

    China has targeted broad money supply growth of around 12 percent in 2017, slightly lower than last year’s goal, signaling a bid to contain debt risks while keeping growth on track.

    (SD-Agencies)